Currently, aircraft weight and balance estimates are used to avoid overloading an airplane and avoiding weight imbalances for safety considerations. The current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory, which is used by most airlines, require the airlines to use estimated passenger and/or passenger baggage weights. For example, the average passenger and/or passenger baggage weight estimates provide generally, that the average passenger weight, including carry-on luggage, is 190 lbs. Check-in bags are presumed to weigh 30 lbs. These estimates have been used by the pilot to manually determine if the weight and balance of the airplane is within safety margins as discussed below.
A pilot may use a manual balance calculator, referred to as an “E6B,” or, commonly referred to as a “wiz-wheel,” to determine if the weight and balance of the airplane is within safety margins just prior to take-off. Typically, the passenger area of the airplane is divided into three sections or zones, such as “zone A” referring to the front portion of the airplane, “zone B” referring to the middle portion of the airplane, and “zone C” referring to the rear portion of the airplane. The pilot receives, often manually, the number of passengers that have checked-in in each of the zones (e.g., 10 passengers sitting in zone A, 30 passengers sitting in zone B and 10 passengers sitting in zone C). The pilot may also receive information, such as the number of children out of these passengers and which zones the children are sitting. This may be important information as children are estimated to weigh 87 lbs. instead of 190 lbs. The pilot manually alters the wiz-wheel taking into consideration this information.
The pilot also takes into consideration the weight of the cargo. As the passenger area of the airplane may be divided into sections or zones, the cargo area may be divided into sections or zones. For example, the cargo area may be divided into four zones, such as “zone A” referring to the front portion of the cargo area, “zone B” referring to the front to middle portion of the cargo area, “zone C” referring to the middle to rear portion of the cargo area, and “zone D” referring to the rear portion of the cargo area. The pilot receives the number of checked-in bags in each of the cargo area zones. The pilot may further receive information, such as the number of checked-in bags in each cargo area zone that are classified as being “large” and hence use an estimated weight of 60 lbs instead of 30 lbs. The pilot manually alters the wiz-wheel taking into consideration this information.
The pilot also takes into consideration the amount of fuel on board. The pilot may obtain this information from a fuel gauge in the cockpit. Again, the pilot manually alters the wiz-wheel taking into consideration this information. The amount of fuel on board is very important in determining where the aircraft center of gravity lies. Typically, as more fuel is placed on board the airplane, the center of gravity is moved further back towards the rear of the airplane as fuel is typically held in the wings, which point towards the rear of the airplane. Center of gravity, as used herein, may refer to the point at which the entire weight of the airplane may be considered as concentrated so that if supported at this point the airplane would remain in equilibrium in any position.
Once the pilot has performed a number of mathematical calculations and inputted this information into the wiz-wheel by adjusting and readjusting the wiz-wheel, the pilot is able to determine whether the aircraft's balance is safe for take-off.
The pilot or planner may want to continuously gather information (e.g., cargo information, passenger information) and hence continuously make such calculations in order to get a more accurate determination as to whether the weight and balance of the airplane is within safety margins. If, however, such calculations could automatically (such as via software) be made continuously, in real-time, and distributed to those who need to know, such as via a web-based interface, it would greatly save time for the pilot or planner. Further, if such calculations could automatically (such as via software) be made continuously, in real-time, and distributed to those who need to know, it would minimize potential errors since the information is not “manually” being inputted into a manual balance calculator.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to determine an estimate of the weight and balance of an aircraft automatically in advance of take-off and up to the point of take-off, in which the information needed for the weight and balance calculation is provided continuously, in real time, up to the point of departure.